


Leaving His Mark

by thoughtsappear



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, set after ravensong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 11:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16085609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoughtsappear/pseuds/thoughtsappear





	Leaving His Mark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sky24](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky24/gifts).



A pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

A wet towel in the middle of the bathroom floor.

Smelly socks peeking out from under the bedroom rug.

Short brown hairs sprinkled all over the shower. 

Mark has only lived with Gordo for a few weeks but he has definitely made his *mark* on the house. Gordo hates cleaning up, and somehow two people in the house seem to be creating ten times more messes.

One night Gordo crawls into bed and is surprised and disgusted to find a half-eaten bag of cookies in the sheets. He's never had a problem with eating in bed but this is too much. He bans it immediately. 

He tries his best not to be a nag, but Mark doesn't seem to understand that dishes don't wash themselves and towels don't magically find the hamper. He notices that Mark just takes his shoes off wherever he sits down, shaves over the sink without wiping up his hairs, and puts a gallon of milk back in the refrigerator with two sips left.

"Really?" Gordo says, shaking the milk carton at him. He has a dry bowl of frosted flakes now. 

"It's not gone." Mark is shrugging like Gordo's in the wrong.

Gordo tosses the empty carton into the recycling and stalks back to the fridge to start a list. He writes "MILK" in shaky capital letters. 

"Can you go grocery shopping for me?" he asks.

Mark makes an affirmative noise and leaves an empty plate on the table after he leaves for the day. Gordo sighs and starts following Mark's trail. It leads him through the kitchen, the bathroom, and finally to the bedroom. By the time he's done erasing Mark's carnage, it's time to leave for the shop, and he's still not even done with cleaning up after his own minor indiscretions. He's not looking forward to working on cars all day and then coming home and cleaning all night. 

He adds a couple more ingredients to the grocery list before he leaves. Some things he's specific about "2% milk" other things he leaves up to his mate "something for dinner."

He puts a big ugly magnet on it and places it on the refrigerator, knowing Mark is bound to see it when he gets home, as the refrigerator is always his first destination, after he kicks his shoes and socks off in the middle of the floor. Gordo settles himself, no use in getting riled up right now, and takes the long way to the shop.

==

After a day of fighting with a 79' Buick, Gordo is sore, covered in grease, bruises and oil. He skipped lunch to pick up some parts at a shop thirty miles out of town, and all he's eaten was a small fun size candy bar shoved in his mouth by Chris on a break between customers. He trudges up the stairs, wipes his feet before he unlaces his boots and enters his home. 

The smell is what worries him. He was hoping he'd smell garlic, tomatoes, onions, something that held the promise of food cooking, or possibly already served. He knows that's asking a lot. But instead the house smells sterile, clean and lemony. Like Mark got out the 5 year old bottle of lemon pledge Gordo shoved under the sink in the hopes he might actually use it. He's never used it. He bought a swiffer last year and never looked back. 

Gordo doesn't hear Mark, but he knows he's there. The kitchen has that lemon pledge smell, and the dishwasher is running even though Gordo knows for a fact it was less than a third full this morning. The list he wrote and stuck to the fridge is gone, so Gordo feels better about that. He hears a noise in the bedroom and decides to check it out. 

The bathroom is sparking and smells like bleach. The towels are missing, presumed in a hamper. The toilet paper even has the roll folded into a neat little point the way it does in fancy hotels. Mark must have talked to Elizabeth. Everything smells a bit flowery.

Gordo finds Mark on their bed, asleep with a dust pan in his hand. It's adorable. Gordo almost doesn't want to wake him up. Mark mumbles something in his sleep and rolls to his side. There's something hanging out of the back pocket of his jeans. 

The shopping list.

Gordo snatches it out of Mark's pocket and crumbles it into his fist. 

The apartment is spotless. Which is amazing. But as he looks down at Mark, stares at the raven on his neck, his own raven fluttering beneath the skin, he really wants to shake Mark awake and remind him.

"You had one job!"

"Gordo?" Mark opens his eyes one at a time. 

"I'm gonna take a shower," Gordo says, stripping out of his dirty clothes. He knows if he stays in there too long he won't be able to hold back. 

Gordo scrubs himself clean, and stands in the shower longer than necessary, hoping that maybe some of his anger will wash away. He can't help but think, be careful what you wish for.

When he gets out and shaves a little, still wrapped in a towel. Mark is beaming. He's so proud, almost smug. Gordo can't hear him over the rumbling in his stomach. 

"I cleaned up." Mark wants to be praised. Gordo can feel his eagerness, his desire for validation. He wants to embrace it almost as much as he wants to squash it. 

"I see that. The kitchen looks great." Gordo stands in their bedroom, a towel clutched in his good hand. "Did you make any visits to the store today?"

"Nope." Mark misses the message. "I went over to see Joe and then I went right back here and got to work."

Gordo groans. He can't decide what to wear. "You said you were gonna go to the grocery store for me."

He sees Mark remember, and reach blindly behind himself for a list that isn't there. Gordo sits down on the bed.

"I forgot," Mark says, clearly ashamed. He won't look at Gordo. "I cleaned the house and then laid down. I was gonna get your milk, I promise."

Beneath his long eyelashes, he looks like a boy being scolded. It's kind of adorable in a completely frustrating and annoying way. He wants to stay mad at Mark, but he tried so hard. And the apartment has never been cleaner.

He reaches into the closet and finds his nice striped shirt and a pair of pants he never wears. He needs help with the buttons on the shirt.

"Change your shirt," he says, wiggling into the pants. "Let's go out."

Mark's face slowly brightens and he realizes Gordo's not going to say anything. So off they go, to a restaurant on the edge of town. Gordo starts a new list the very next day. 

==

Gordo enjoys the next few days of a clean house. But as he suspected, the change in Mark is short-lived. He doesn't seem to realize that wiping down the counters on Monday means they can get dirty again on Tuesday. His socks find their way back into the living room, and the dirty dishes crowd up the sink. Gordo tries his best to not get mad about it, and when Mark makes an effort, no matter how small, he praises him for it. 

Gordo loves this man. He just doesn't love the fact that he's been coddled his whole life. He's gonna have to change the way he acts. 

Gordo has tried a couple different tactics, but none seem to really make any kind of impact. He thinks maybe it's just a Bennett thing. But that sparks an idea. If it's a Bennett thing, maybe a Bennett can help.

"Hello Elizabeth." Gordo has locked himself in his office with a cup of coffee. His crew usually knows better than to bother him when he does this. He doesn't want any of them asking him about spark plugs while he's complaining about Mark's dirty socks to his sister in law. 

"Hello Gordo." Elizabeth sounds amused. They don't talk on the phone much. When he called, he had to play phone tag through about three others before he got to the person he wanted. 

"So you know how Mark has been living with me?"

Of course she knows. Gordo doesn’t know why he’s taking the scenic route when he should just blurt it out.

"Yes," she replies. "Are you asking if he can come back to our place?"

Gordo lets out a snort. No matter how crazy Mark makes him, he doesn't want to let him go.

"No, he's just a bit...messy."

Elizabeth laughs. "Oh Gordo, I know why you're calling. If you're asking how to make him see that he's left his shorts two feet from the basket, I've been fighting that battle for years. Thomas and Mark both suffer from a condition known as mess-blindness. Unfortunately it appears to be incurable. Nagging, positive reinforcement and passive aggression have all failed to make any kind of impact."

Elizabeth is too clever for her own good sometimes. And her cutesy disease metaphor is way too accurate. 

"He's never gonna change Gordo. It's a Bennett family trait. And on that note I have three men's socks to pick up off the floor and a bathroom full of wet towels."

Gordo hangs up and drinks more coffee. It could always be worse. He could have three of them like Elizabeth. The thought is enough to send a shiver down his spine. 

Gordo refuses to believe there is nothing that can be done. He can live with a little mess, and maybe Mark can meet him in the middle. There's got to be an answer. He turns over an old receipt and starts making a list of ideas. Most of them involve killing him but a couple might actually work. Gordo finishes his coffee and stretches before going back into the shop to deal with easier problems.

==

Saturday mornings they usually sleep late, drink coffee in bed, snuggle all afternoon. But this next Saturday, Gordo has a new idea. He brews a pot of coffee, scrambles a few eggs and makes Mark get out of bed and then he springs it on him.

"We're trying something new," he says. He digs under the sink and pulls out the magic erasers, the swiffer, the windex and the dish soap. "Saturday is cleaning day."

"I don't care what you do to the place every other day of the week," he declares. "But on saturday, we're gonna spend a few hours undoing it."

Mark looks at him like he's talking gibberish. Maybe he is. But then Mark considers the offer and grabs a broom. With the two of them working side by side, cleaning only takes a few hours and at times it's actually kind of fun. After they finish the apartment, Mark flops down on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. He's barefoot, so Gordo allows it. He slumps down beside him and they fall asleep like that, waking up a few hours later with the sun going down. They have nothing planned for dinner and neither of them wants to cook so they order a pizza and eat it over the coffee table while watching old samurai movies. Mark is sprawled over the couch, and Gordo is slotted in next to him. They barely fit together and the lumpy couch isn't comfortable, but Gordo doesn't want to move. 

There's an empty pizza box on the table, a pair of dirty socks beside the coffee table, and Gordo can see places on the floor where the vacuum missed. He chooses to focus on Mark's breathing, his smell and the solid comfort of his chest and his arms loosely around Gordo's chest. 

Gordo can live with Mark, and his mess. He would much rather have dirty dishes in his sink and clothes on his floor then miss out on couch cuddles and living room dance parties with the vacuum. His mate has left his mark, and Gordo is happy he's here to stay. 


End file.
